This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/FR00/00276 which has an International filing date of Feb. 7, 2000, which designated the United States of America and was not published in English.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Surgery to correct ametropia using the technique of Prof. Barraquer in combination with an excimer laser is a surgical technique that is now widely developed and used on a large scale. It makes use of surgical instruments known as “microkeratomes” which essentially comprise a ring for fixing on the eye to be operated on so that the cornea projects into the center of the ring, and a moving cutting device guided relative to the fixing ring and comprising firstly a surface for flattening of the portion of the cornea that projects into the ring and secondly a generally-oscillating cutting blade whose cutting edge is situated immediately behind the flattening surface and at a determined distance therefrom measured vertically so as to define the thickness of the corneal lamella which is thus subjected to resection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a variant embodiment of known instruments for cutting the cornea as used in the Barraquer technique.
To this end, the invention provides a surgical instrument for performing lamellar cutting of the cornea and comprising:
a ring-shaped base shaped for being applied to and held against the eye; and
a cutting tool having a cutting blade received in a support co-operating with the base to guide displacement of the cutting edge of the blade in a plane parallel to the ring, and including, in front of the blade, a shaping element for shaping the portion of the cornea that projects into the ring, wherein the shaping element is constituted by a roller coupled to the blade support about an axis of rotation perpendicular to the cutting direction.
Thus, unlike existing instruments, the cornea is no longer shaped by a plate which compresses it, but by a member which rolls on the cornea without sliding, thus making it possible firstly to obtain resection of thickness that is uniform or non-uniform in the transverse direction, and secondly to vary the thickness of the resection as cutting advances. Thus a flattening plate makes it possible to perform resection that is parallel only to the anterior surface of the cornea, whereas the roller of the invention makes it possible to perform resection of varying profile, and in particular of profile that is parallel to the posterior surface of the cornea which is known to be thicker at the periphery than in the center. This makes it possible in a single resection operation to modify the curvature of the cornea in order to correct ametropia, once it has been determined what shape needs to be given to the outside surface of the cornea, and thus what profile it is to have after correction. It is also possible with the instrument of the invention to combine mechanical resection of a corneal flap of determined profile and then to add additional resection of a lenticule or some other portion of the stroma before folding down the flap.
Thus, in the instrument of the invention, the roller can be either cylindrical, or barrel-shaped, or diabolo-shaped. It can also be given any other useful shape, and in particular it can be cylindrical and possess a lens applied in relief on its outside surface. In the same manner, it can be cylindrical and possesses a lens-shaped depression in its outside surface. When its outside surface is not a surface of revolution, the roller should have an index associated with the position of a particular generator line on its peripheral surface and the support should include a mark for locating the index in a determined position, in particular at the beginning of an operation.
Advantageously, the peripheral surface of the shaper member is provided with microrelief to enhance rolling without slip on the surface of the cornea.
Furthermore, and in particular for large-diameter cuts, it can be advantageous to place a plate in front of the roller so as to avoid pressure variations in the eye. The distance between the blade and the rear edge of the plate can be about 5 millimeters (mm) to 6 mm.
Finally, and also advantageously, the annular base has a groove in its face directed towards the eye, the groove being partitioned by an intermediate wall provided with at least one opening providing communication between the two portions of the groove.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear from the following description of embodiments of the invention given below as non-limiting examples.
Reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of means forming the instrument of the invention;
FIG. 2 shows four possible variant embodiments of a cornea-shaping roller; and
FIG. 3 is a section view through the eye-holding ring forming part of the instrument of the invention.
MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows a ring 1 for fixing to an eye which is to be operated on, the ring being conventional in itself and possessing a central opening 2 through which the cornea projects. The ring is provided with a guide 3, in this case in the form of a dovetail groove by way of example, suitable for slidably receiving a carriage 4 constituting a carrier for a blade for cutting the cornea. The face of the ring 1 in contact with the eye (FIG. 3) defines a space 5 limited by the bottom edge 5 b of a lateral skirt and by the bottom edge 5 a of the opening 2, such that when these two edges 5 a and 5 b are in contact with the conjunctiva of the eye, defines a chamber that can be partially evacuated by means of a duct 6. The ring 1 is thus fixed to the eye by suction.
The blade-carrying carriage 4 shown in FIG. 1 has no limiting character concerning the means of the invention. Thus, the invention applies to any keratoma whether manual or automatic, i.e. motor-driven, providing it has a blade-carrying carriage capable of being moved in a plane parallel to the plane of the ring 1 along a path that is rectilinear or curved, thus making it possible to cut off a corneal disk or to cut open a corneal flap.
The carriage 4 shown includes a housing 7 which receives in conventional manner a blade capable of oscillating transversely to the dovetail guide 8 at the bottom of the carriage for co-operating with the dovetail groove 3 in the ring. An element 9 belonging to the carriage 4 represents drive means for the blade and/or drive means for moving the carriage 4 relative to the ring 1.
In front of the edge of the blade situated at the bottom of the housing 7, the carriage 4 carries a cornea-shaping member between the guides 8, which member is formed by a roller 10. The roller is positioned precisely above the edge of the blade so that the portion of the cornea deformed by the roller is of controlled thickness, thereby constituting a criterion that determines the cut made. The roller 10 is designed to roll on the cornea without slip and for this purpose it includes microrelief 11 on its outside surface.
FIG. 2 shows various embodiments of the roller 10 for obtaining particular profiles of cut. Portion 2A of FIG. 2 shows a cylindrical roller 12 from which a surface lenticule has been removed so that the roller possesses a depression 13. Portion 2B of the Figure shows a roller 14 that is barrel-shaped. Portion 2C shows a roller 15 which is diabolo-shaped, and portion 2D of FIG. 2 shows a roller 16 which is cylindrical and has a lens-shaped projection 17 on its peripheral surface. The projection 17 can be applied by any fixing means, and in particular by adhesive. The lens 17 is of a diameter that is appropriate for the operation. For example, in order to perform resection parallel to the posterior face of the cornea, a lens is used with a fine edge and thickness in the center that is one- to two-tenths of a millimeter thicker than the edge, depending on the selected diameter.
The rotary support for each of the rollers 10 to 16 is constituted by two arms 18, 19 standing on the “forearms” of the carriage 4 and suitable for having rollers snap-fastened between them and held securely. For example, the arms 18 and 19 can receive a shaft 20 which is mounted so that it does not rotate relative to the arms 18 and 19, and the rollers can be formed with a tubular member having a ball-bearing mount on the fixed shaft 20. Friction should be minimized as much as possible between the roller and the blade-carrying carriage 4 so as to enable the roller to roll without slip on the surface of the cornea.
The shaft 20 of the cylindrical cornea shaper of the invention extends parallel to the cutting edge of the blade, i.e. perpendicular to the guide 8. In other words, this shaft extends transversely relative to the advance movement of the carriage 4 as cutting of the cornea progresses.
Finally, it can be seen in portion 2D of FIG. 2 that an index A is present on the roller 16 suitable for being aligned with a mark B carried on one of the arms 18, 19 of the carriage 4, with the state of the instrument when the index is in register with the mark corresponding to beginning an operation, for example. It will be understood that such an index and mark are not necessary if the outer surface of the roller is a surface of revolution about the shaft 20. However they are necessary when the profile of cut to be obtained is special and requires a shaping roller to be used whose outside surface is not a surface of revolution about the axis of rotation of the roller.
In FIG. 1, there can be seen a fixed plate in front of the roller 10 between the arms 18 and 19, where the function of the plate is to pre-compress the cornea so as to avoid pressure variations in the eye having effects on how the eye is cut. This plate is useful in particular when making cuts of large diameter. In preferred manner, the distance between the rear edge 23 a of the plate and the cutting blade is 5 mm to 6 mm. In addition, the plate 23 is advantageously transparent and carries graduations 23 b for inspecting the dimensions of the flattened portion of the cornea.
FIG. 3 is a diametral section of the ring 1 on plane III—III of FIG. 1. The section of this ring 1 is itself known, except for the partition 21 which extends between the edges 5 a and 5 b of the groove 5 and which forms the suction chamber when the ring is in place on the eye, this partition being intended to rest likewise on the outside surface of the eye (the conjunctiva) and has the function of ensuring that in the event of conjunctiva becoming unstuck or torn away, it does not plug the outlet of the pipe 6 into the groove 5. In order to allow the two portions of the groove 5 as partitioned in this way to communicate with each other, the intermediate wall 21 includes notches 22 for ensuring permanent communication between the two portions.